Lake County Deputy Sheriff John Krempotic’s voice was calm and confident as he played a life-and-death game of “Let’s Make a Deal” over the telephone with a crazed, screaming bank robber.
Through a bank of trees 100 yards away, the female robber and a male companion were holding a family of six hostage in an abandoned cottage after their escape route was foiled by authorities.
The drama was one of three played out last Thursday night by the sheriff’s office hostage negotiation team and tactical units.
The four-hour drill, using off-duty officers and teenage Explorers as “criminals” and “hostages,” gave negotiators and tactical unit members a chance to hone skills for when lives really are on the line.
From a kitchen table command post, Krempotic, with the phone wedged between his ear and shoulder, and Detective Kevin Parker scribbled a transcript of the conversation.
The first scenario involved two robbers fleeing from a bank heist in Antioch and taking a family hostage. In the second exercise, a drunken man despondent over his recent divorce shows up with a handgun at a party in his former home. The third re-enactment involved three armed motorcycle gang members taking over a tavern.
All three scenarios were played out in an abandoned chauffeur’s residence on the former E.J. Lehmann estate, 485 N. Illinois Highway 83, and were resolved when police stormed the house.
